Santo Domingo.- One of the most inconic Major League Baseball greats from the Dominican Republic, Mateo Rojas Alou (Matty Alou) died early Thursday in Miami of unspecified ailment.

Alou, one of the famous brothers Jesus and Felipe, who all started with the San Francisco Giants in the 1060s, crowned his career while playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969, when he won that National League Batting title with an average of .342.

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This is really sad news. Matty was one of my favorite players. He used a very unorthodox batting style--a heavy bat, swung off his front foot, blooped a lot of singles to the opposite field--which made him intriguing. In spite of breaking many of the rules of hitting, he batted for a very high average, which coupled with his base stealing ability, made him a useful player.

In his younger days, he was a very good center fielder with range and a good arm, but his throwing became weaker as he went along. He actually played some first base late in his career, despite not being very tall. He could have used a phone book to stand on first base and corral those high throws.

Bruce, I'm thinking that the hitting style you remember for Matty was something that he adopted when he moved to the Pirates. When Matty first came up with the Giants, he was more orthodox, and even hit HRs by finding the Candlestick jet streak (all 6 of his in '61 were at home, in less than 250 total PAs).

That new hitting style must have also helped him with LHP. Through '65, Matty's lifetime BA against LHP was .162. The turnaround is all concentrated in that first season with the Pirates...was it Harry Walker who was the hitting coach then?

Don, you're right. I believe it was Harry "The Hat" Walker, who was the Pirates' manager, who worked with Alou on completely re-tooling his batting approach. So yes, Walker deserves a lot of credit, along with Alou, who was open-minded enough to consider something different.

Ted Williams used to say that Alou broke every rule of hitting, but somehow managed to succeed. And unlike Williams, Alou was an extremely aggressive hitter who didn't walk all that much. But the man could hit singles with the best of them.

Harry Walker is the guy usually credited for Alou's breakthrough, yes. He was the manager, but I don't think he had a hitting coach--he was the hitting coach. For many years Alou was the answer to the question "Who was the last NL player to hit .330 for four consecutive seasons?" I believe until Gwynn came along. What was interesting about Alou's stretch is that no one was hitting .330 in those years (1966-1969). Alou was the best of a breed--a singles hitter who did not walk--and this breed for many years personified the cliche about "not walking off the island." He hit like Aparicio, except 60 points higher (and without the stellar shortstop defense, of course).

Because I came of age, baseball-fan wise, in the late 1960s, I think of Matty as a Pirate, Felipe as a Brave, and Jesus as an Astro. But, of course, they all moved around a lot. Charlie Finley picked up each of them during his dynasty, allowing Matty a World Series ring in 1972. Matty and Felipe also teamed up on the 1973 Yankees.

A fine ballplayer whom I remember mostly for one specific hit: A bunt single to lead off the 9th inning of the 7th game of the 1962 World Series, which set up the most dramatic ending in World Series history.

I remember him, too, from the baseball cards and Mets broadcasts of the mid and late '60's. Too bad he didn't get to the Pirates sooner. His BA in 1971 was still good for 8th in the league.
Coolest line: 1970, 718 plate appearances, 18 strike outs!